CHEYENNE – Secretary of State Chuck Gray announced Thursday morning that he is working closely with Wyoming lawmakers to promote his election integrity proposals during the upcoming 2025 general session, including a statewide ban on ballot drop boxes and requiring proof of citizenship.
During a news conference in the Capitol rotunda, Gray laid out his priorities for the legislative session, at least one of which was previously shot down by Gov. Mark Gordon.
These proposals include:
*Requires proof of both U.S. citizenship and Wyoming residency upon voter registration
* A nationwide ban on ballot drop boxes and ballot collecting
* Requires a “true” photo ID as voter ID
* A ban on Zuckerbucks and other third-party financing administrations
* Improvement of the statutes for the maintenance of electoral rolls
* Requires hand verification of voting machines
With a Wyoming Freedom Caucus majority in the House of Representatives after the general election, Gray said he is confident he will have “probably at least 35 votes” from the 62 members in the lower chamber in support of his proposed legislation.
Rep. Chris Knapp, R-Gillette, the next chairman of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, and incoming freshmen Cheyenne Republican Reps.-elect Steve Johnson and Gary Brown were also at the conference and spoke in support of Gray’s proposals.
“I know firsthand how much work it takes to move these bills to the finish line,” Gray said. “And we are prepared to help carry out this work, not just talk the talk, but walk the talk, and help the legislature and work with them on these pieces of legislation.”
Knapp, who currently serves on the Corporations Committee, said there have been several issues discussed by committee members recently involving affordable housing and corporate fraud, but election integrity was not one of them.
“Abraham Lincoln once said that elections belong to the people, and that we as elected officials have an obligation,” Knapp said. “And I’m talking about the legislature. I’m talking about the Secretary of State, the Governor, I’m talking about the many clerks that we have in this great state of Wyoming, we all have a responsibility.
Both Johnson and Brown recalled meeting with campaign voters who have lost confidence in Wyoming’s elections. Brown, who has been assigned to the House Corporations Committee in the new 68th legislative session, said some Cheyenne residents were too discouraged to cast their votes because of the issue.
“A lot of people told me as I went door to door that they weren’t going to vote anymore because they just didn’t believe in the process,” Brown said. “I said, ‘You know, we need your vote because if we can get the people out there who will support what you want done, you can count on it.’”
Ban on ballot boxes
Wyoming law (WS 22-9-113) requires all ballots to be “delivered by mail or to the clerk.” Earlier this summer, Gray sent a letter to all Wyoming clerks calling for the removal of ballot drop boxes, which he said violated this statute.
“It’s actually a beautifully crafted part of the election code that all absentee ballots can only be delivered by mail or to the clerk’s office, and you can’t deliver something to an inanimate object,” Gray said Thursday.
Laramie County installed its ballot drop box outside the Laramie County Governmental Complex on Carey Avenue in 2020, and fewer than 10 ballot drop boxes are used in counties across the state. The Laramie County ballot box is equipped with a 24-hour camera system, locks and seals. If a seal is broken, the employee is alerted that the box has been tampered with.
Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee previously told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that she had received a lot of correspondence from voters grateful for the ballot box.
“They could cast their ballot safely, they could cast it independently,” Lee said in an earlier interview. “Some of them had health issues, and they were really happy that they could get us that ballot without having to come into the office.”
On Thursday, Gray said “the use of unmanned and unattended ballot drop boxes” is not in the best interest of the state of Wyoming and does not have legal authority. He added that two provinces have removed their ballot boxes in the 2024 elections.
The use of ballot boxes falls under the authority of the district clerk, not the Secretary of State. However, Gray said he “urges the Legislature to take immediate action to explicitly ban ballot drop boxes.”
“While our government, working with the provinces, has reduced the number using drop boxes in the 2024 election, I believe it is necessary to take action to ban them completely,” Gray said.
Knapp said there will be a bill in the 2025 General Assembly that would propose a statewide ban on ballot drop boxes. The ballot drop boxes also relate to Gray’s concerns about ballot harvesting, the process by which ballots are collected from absentee or mail-in ballots and delivered to the clerk’s office.
“We’ve seen across the country the problems of third-party ballot harvesting and how that can interact with the ballot drop boxes. That is why we must ban ballot harvesting,” Gray said.
Proof of residency
The secretary of state discussed a new voter registration rule proposed by his office earlier this year and later vetoed by Governor Gordon. This rule would require that a registered voter’s home address match the address listed on their valid Wyoming driver’s license or state permit. -issued identity card.
Currently, a person registering to vote in Wyoming must present a valid driver’s license. If they don’t have one, they must provide the last four digits of their Social Security number and an additional acceptable form of identification.
In his veto message, Gordon agreed that only Wyoming residents could vote in Wyoming elections. However, he argued that Gray’s proposed rule change exceeded his authority as secretary of state.
Gray said Thursday that he was “contrary to this analysis” and strongly believes that the state statute “not only allows for the provision of proof of residency in Wyoming, but actually requires verification of state residency.”
“In light of this troubling veto, I seek explicit regulatory authority to ensure that Wyomingites, and only Wyomingites, can vote in Wyoming elections,” Gray said.
One issue that has previously been raised in debates over proof of residency is how it could discourage some qualified voters from participating in elections, such as students and seniors living in nursing homes.
However, Gray vowed that his office would do everything it could to ensure eligible voters could continue to cast ballots in elections.
“That to me is critical and we have to make sure we achieve that balance,” Gray said.
The 2025 general session starts on January 14.
